Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Hydrangea macrophylla cultivar Big Daddy.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea plant, botanically known as Hydrangea macrophylla, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Big Daddy.
The new Hydrangea originated from a chance cross-pollination of two unidentified selections of Hydrangea macrophylla, not patented. The cultivar Big Daddy was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Marietta, Ga. in May, 1996.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by vegetative cuttings taken in Atlanta, Ga., since September, 1999, has shown that the unique features of this new Hydrangea are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Big Daddy have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Big Daddyxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Big Daddyxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Large and vigorous growth habit.
2. Upright and rounded plant habit.
3. Large glossy dark green-colored leaves.
4. Large inflorescences with large pink-colored flowers.
Plants of the new Hydrangea typically have larger leaves and inflorescences than other known selections of Hydrangea macrophylla. 
Plants of the new Hydrangea can be compared to plants of the Hydrangea macrophylla cultivar Nikko Blue, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Atlanta, Ga., plants of the new Hydrangea differed from plants of the cultivar Nikko Blue in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Hydrangea had darker green-colored, glossier and larger leaves than plants of the cultivar Nikko Blue.
2. Plants of the new Hydrangea had stronger and thicker stems than plants of the cultivar Nikko Blue.
3. Plants of the new Hydrangea had larger inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Nikko Blue.